Get FREE update from Owojela's Blog by simply entering your e-mail

Uber is expected to sell its uber Southeast Asian business to Grab

Uber, the
car hailing firm is preparing to sell its Southeast Asian business to Grab in
exchange for a stake in the Singaporean ridesharing company that has a big
presence in that region, according to a new report from CNBC.

This
wouldn’t be an unfamiliar story for Uber, which was handily beaten by Didi in
China before eventually caving and selling the company to the dominant
ridesharing startup in China. Uber sold its Chinese business to Didi in August
2016, which involved an equity deal. In that sense, Uber may be acknowledging
where it’s getting beaten, and instead looking to pick up stakes in those
companies as a hedge on its ability to expand globally. Should Didi — or Grab,
in the case of this report — end up being bombshell successes, Uber would
experience its own significant windfall and have some good news to report to
its shareholders.

Uber CEO
Dara Kosrowshahi said at the Goldman Sachs Internet and Technology conference
this week that, if it wanted to be, Uber could be profitable — though it is
heavily investing in emerging markets and new technology like autonomous
driving. That means assessing which markets would be loss leaders as it looks
for growth versus some of its better-performing markets. Uber is all over the
globe, but it faces stiff competition in Southeast Asia from Grab (and,
formerly, Didi in China). Kosrowshahi acknowledged that it made more sense to
try to pick up stakes in the local ridesharing companies like Didi and Russia’s
Yandex.

“The amount
we’re investing in developing markets is a significant negative but that’s an
optional investment,” Kosrowshahi said. “We think it should be on and it’s
gonna be on for a while. And the big bets, autonomous [driving and other bets],
increase the negative. If someone says forget about all this stuff, all I want
is the core and sell all the stuff, you’d have a business for a quarter was
cash flow break even. I’m pretty darn confident we can turn the knobs to even
on a full basis profitable if we wanted to, but you would sacrifice growth.”

Kosrowshahi’s
job since joining has been to essentially try to rid Uber of its negative
baggage and figure out a way to transform it into a business that will be ready
to IPO sometime in 2019. It’s made the somewhat peculiar move of reporting some
of its financial performance, which has shown heavy losses, though Kosrowshahi
suggests that the company would be able to dial back its investments (like
international expansion) to get those financials in order as it looks at an
IPO. Uber is one of the largest privately held companies in the world, with its
long cap table looking forward to a significant liquidity event — something
Uber will have to set itself up for if it’s going to deliver.

Atletico Madrid forward, Antoine Griezmann, is beginning to regret his decision to turn down Barcelona in the summer, and is hoping he can secure a move to the Nou Camp at the end of the season, L’Equipe reports.

Former Big Brother Naija housemate, Alex has revealed how fame after ‘Double Wahala’ affected her life.

Alex who was among the top final five housemates of 2018 BBNaija edition while speaking during ‘DoubleWahala’ reunion show opened up that she has been forced to grow up with the fame acquired from Big Brother Naija reality show.

Ex-porn star turned sports commentator, Mia Khalifa is engaged to longtime boyfriend Chef Robert Sandberg, and he proposed to her in a very special way in Chicago.

Apparently, Robert Sandberg hid the ring in a bowl of dried ingredients and Mia almost ate the ring with the ‘new serving’ but thankfully Sandberg was on ground to warn her, and he proposed to her on the spot. She said YES.

An internet fraudster, Oyesanmi Ayomikun Oluwaseun was on Tuesday jailed four months for sharing pornographic and indecent images through his email address – mikeclark861@gmail.com

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Ibadan judicial division, handed down the verdict after Oyesanmi pleaded guilty to a one-count amended charge brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Ibadan Zonal Office.